I have to admit I turned off the game when Ginobili was fouled on his three point attempt. I really couldn’t take watching the Jazz lose and Manu going to the free throw line, again. The Jazz, who have been great in the fourth quarter, got Manu’d. I’ll never understand how one team goes to the line more than double the other with their SG going an astounding 15 times. Of course this is a bit of sour grapes, but if you have the mild-mannered Derek Fisher seeking you out, you’ve done something. I think Manu has cemented himself as a Jazz fan’s enemy #1. And I don’t see anyone else challenging for that position. Even Timmy’s bug-eyes are bearable. And even the Jazz crowd went out of control. It’s the loudest and most raucous crowd in the NBA, but I think this is the first time I’ve heard of arrests made in this situation. And for those that aren’t LDS (Mormon), the church has basketball leagues with players and families that would make football hooligans looks like saints. Now not every Jazz fan is LDS of course, and not all fans are like this, but when it comes to basketball, a lot of LDS throw any Christ-like teachings out the window. So am I surprised by the fans’ behavior still? Yes. There are always warnings it seems from the PA guy, but usually that’s enough. It had to take quite a bit to put them over the edge and that bit was Manu and the refs.

Well, even though it’s not over, it’s over. The Spurs will have left another team and respective fans in their wake. Had the Jazz won last night, then this would have been a series again. I would love nothing more than to be disproved by the Jazz coming back and at least pushing this to a game 7. But to do that they’ll have to win in SA, a place where the Jazz pile up losses. But it looks like we’re heading towards another Spurs/Pistons final that has no one interested except for SA/Det fans.

Is David Stern going out of his way this year to disprove any alleged conspiracies? You would have to think for marketability the last thing he would want would be a SA/Det final. And then the NBA lottery sends the top two picks to the west? The one to a team who had a 5% chance of winning and another to Seattle who might not even be in Seattle in a couple years? Would he want them to go to Boston and other high-profile markets? I think we’re seeing him conspiring to create the least-likely scenarios so conspiracy theorists would start second-guessing themselves. Dallas losing in the first round with MVP Dirk? The Heat not making it out of the first round? He’s willing to tank one year to have the heat off him for a bit. And to think I almost bought it.

Anyway, back to the Jazz. I will be there routing for them tomorrow night (in front of the TV of course). Something I have to add here even though I’ve jinxed it from now on. The Jazz are now 5-0 for games I’ve seen in person. This dates back to 1988. That may not be a large sample size, but if the Jazz want to send me to their next 82 games to test this theory out, I’m game. Let’s hope that Jazz can pull one out at SA and come back home so I can buy another ticket and put the Jazz into game 7.

(I haven’t been putting up videos lately because my DVR has been weird. It’s working now and I should be able to put more up.)

Technorati tags: utah jazz, san antonio spurs, playoffs, manu ginobili